the here and now

"we can easily become so driven by our vision for church growth, community, or social justice that we forget the little things, like caring for those around us." -shane claiborne.

God please help me to love my mom and dad, sisters, pay for a friend's lunch... to do the little things that i often overlook.

Austria has been on my mind, so much in fact that i took my eyes off the here and the now - and the opportunities thereof. i was praying for God to use me overseas to bring about change, feed the hungry, heal the sick, etc. but Jesus has reminded me about my family, and my friends, co-workers. He wants to use me [you] now.
for tomorrow is never promised.
while reading james' book in the new testament last night, it made me wonder whether we were meant to have all these plans for the future. i think we should constantly remind ourselves of "now" .of the present moment. and of making the most of it. mother teresa used to say: "you cannot love your neighbor unless you learn to love your family." and maybe thats one of the problems with our culture, that we've been programmed since we were kids to look ahead and have all these dreams. that , on its own, is a good thing. but we've made it out to be that all we live for is the future. the patriarchs of our faith also looked forward to something, but nothing earthly. their hope was in The City, eternity. and they understood that the pleasure they recieved in eternity is directly linked to the present moment, and what we do in it.

so open your eyes and your hands little child,
look at those 5 loaves and 2 fish that seem so small
learn to use them now in this moment
and one day you'll be able to feed us all.


but whatever you do, do not miss this moment. because there's beauty in it.

[as you read this, it's a beautiful moment: a chance to pray, a chance to make someone's day, a chance to surprise your parents with a big wet kiss!]